May 19-20, Arrival
Saturday, Glasgow all day
After about 14 hours of travel, including a quick layover in Amsterdam, I landed in Glasgow at around 10 a.m., with a beautiful view of the rolling green countryside during the descent. My instructor, Dr. Smith, and another student, Angela, met me at the airport and we quickly hopped on a shuttle that took us to a bus station near our hotel. I decided to stay up as late as I could, even though the twin bed at the Holiday Inn Express could not have looked more appealing at the time.
Dr. Smith was kind enough to give Angela and I a walking tour of Glasgow. We stayed very near Buchanan Street, pictured above, which is a long pedestrian street well known as a shopping destination in Scotland. I learned that most of the beautiful honey and red colored sandstone buildings used to all be black from the coal-burning stoves, and were only cleaned very recently.
We made a stop at the Provand's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow, built in 1471.
Dr. Smith was kind enough to give Angela and I a walking tour of Glasgow. We stayed very near Buchanan Street, pictured above, which is a long pedestrian street well known as a shopping destination in Scotland. I learned that most of the beautiful honey and red colored sandstone buildings used to all be black from the coal-burning stoves, and were only cleaned very recently.
We made a stop at the Provand's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow, built in 1471.
I met my wonderful roommate, Jennifer, upon my return to the hotel, and after all of us had arrived, we went out to dinner to become more acquainted with each other. Although we share a common school, Emporia State University, we are from different locations where the school offers distance programs with occasional 'face-to-face' class weekends. I was one of four students from the Oregon group, and we also had three from Utah, three from Kansas, one from Colorado, and one from Montana. We went to an Italian place for our first meal, and I managed to stay up until 9 p.m., 30 hours after waking up in Portland to set off on my journey.
Sunday, Glasgow all day
Our second day in Scotland was another day to recover from the journey. Dr. Smith provided an optional idea for an outing: a bus ride to the People's Palace, which is a museum about the people of Glasgow. Sitting outside the front entrance of the People's Palace is the world's largest terracotta fountain.
I also walked through George Square on my way back to the hotel and admired all of the statues with birds sitting on their heads. Although the square was named for King George III, there is no statue of him to be found because of his failure to secure the American colonies during the Revolutionary War.
Go to all pictures from May 19, May 20 at the People's Palace, or May 20 at the Gallery of Modern Art and George Square.